The following background discussion is not an admission that anything discussed below is citable as prior art or common general knowledge. The documents listed below are incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference to them.
Machines for preparing products, such as beverages like coffee or tea, from single use capsules are becoming increasingly popular. Such machines typically include a brew chamber having a capsule housing that is adapted for receiving a specific capsule. The capsule is supported within the capsule housing while a fluid such as hot water is injected into the capsule to mix with ingredients contained within the capsule. A resulting prepared product is subsequently dispensed from the capsule into a desired receptacle such as a cup or bowl.
A problem with such machines is that the capsule housing is only adapted to receive one specific size or shape of capsule. This limits the options available to consumers to prepare a desired product. Accommodating multiple capsule sizes or shapes is a challenge since the capsule housing requires sufficiently close tolerances to support the capsule during injection of fluid and extraction of the prepared product.
Another problem with such machines is that the capsule housing is not adapted to receive larger volume capsules. This limits the options available to consumers to prepare products having a larger volume of required ingredients (such as products with noodles or other insoluble consumable ingredients).
It is desirable to provide a capsule housing that is adapted to receive larger volume capsules and preferably multiple capsule sizes or shapes while maintaining the close tolerances required to adequately support each capsule.